Hovedøya Abbey (''Hovedøya kloster'') was a medieval era Cistercian monastery on the island of Hovedøya in

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

outside of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, Norway.

History

The monastery was founded on 18 May 1147 by monks from Kirkstead Abbey in

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on Hovedøya island, and dedicated to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

and Saint Edmund. A church dedicated to Edmund already stood on the island, and the monks took this over as the abbey church, modifying it to meet Cistercian requirements. The rest of the monastery follow a modified Cistercian building plan, to take into account a small local hill. The church itself is built in Romanesque style; the rest of the monastery was presumably Gothic. During the medieval period the abbey was one of the richest institutions in

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, holding over 400 properties, including a fishery and timber yards.

End of the abbey

Political turmoil during the succession to the throne of Denmark-Norway led to the end of the monastery. The abbot, having supported the former king Christian 2, was imprisoned for supporting him in the hope of saving the catholic monasteries. He was imprisoned from January till July 1532. In the meantime Christian made two attempts to become king again by taking the Akershus fortress, but did not succeed. The monks who had fled joined Hans after he became priest in the church of St. Hallvard. The monastery had been burned in the start of April by a Danish rescue expedition. Any hope the order might have had in restoring the rich abbey was dashed 4 years later, when the Reformation swept over Denmark-Norway. The site was later used as a quarry for stone for

Akershus Fortress Akershus Fortress ( no, Akershus Festning, ) or Akershus Castle ( no, Akershus slott ) is a medieval castle in the Norwegian capital Oslo that was built to protect and provide a royal residence for the city. Since the Middle Ages the fortress ...

. The remaining ruins are nevertheless among the most complete of a medieval Norwegian monastery. Between the years 1930–1938, architect Gerhard Fischer performed excavations on site.

References

Other Sources

*Fischer, Gerhard (1974) ''Klosteret på Hovedøya : et Cistercienseranlegg'' (Oslo:Fortidsminneforeningen)

External links

Ruins of Hovedøya
www.visitoslo.com Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Cistercian monasteries in Norway Buildings and structures in Oslo Ruined abbeys and monasteries Ruins in Norway Church ruins in Norway Monasteries dissolved under the Norwegian Reformation {{Oslo-church-stub